Want to elevate your sandwiches or burgers this summer? Forget fancy condiments and excessive add-ons. If you have a few hours, make your own buns!
An afterthought for most people, bread, in my opinion, is the first and most important element to consider when assembling a sandwich or burger. It’s the foundation upon which you build your BLT, submarine, PB&J and so on. It’s what holds your entire creation together.
The beauty of these cornbread brioche buns – like golden cornmeal waffles – is that they can go savory or sweet. Texture-wise, they’re more akin to cornbread than light, buttery brioche (due to the generous amount of cornmeal in the dough), making them an ideal base for hearty fillings like shredded chicken or chili. For a quick dessert, split, toast and stuff them with fresh fruit and sweetened whipped cream.
Recipe adapted from Half Baked Harvest.
- 1 cup lukewarm water
- 3 tablespoons warm milk
- ⅓ cup honey, divided
- 1½ tablespoons active dry yeast
- 2 eggs, divided
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1¾ cups yellow cornmeal
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2½ tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- In a medium bowl, combine the water, milk, 2 tablespoons honey and yeast and let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal and salt. Add the butter and rub it into the flour mixture with your fingertips until it resembles coarse meal.
- Add yeast mixture, 1 beaten egg and remaining honey to flour mixture. Stir everything until it comes together to form a shaggy ball. Then knead the dough by hand on a well-floured work surface until it's smooth, adding flour as needed, about 10 minutes. Transfer dough to an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled in size, 1-2 hours.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces for regular-size buns or 16 equal pieces for slider-size buns. Gently shape each piece into a ball and arrange 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Cover buns with a clean kitchen towel and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Place a large shallow pan of water on the bottom rack of your oven and preheat to 400 degrees.
- Beat the remaining egg with 1 tablespoon water and brush it on top of the buns.
- Bake buns until tops are golden brown, about 20 minutes (less if making slider-size buns), rotating sheets halfway through.
- While buns are baking, combine the honey and butter in a small bowl and brush over warm buns.
Mmm… I had my doubts about the quantity of corn meal and the fact it asked for All Purpose flour instead of bread flour but I was intrigued. Anyway as I expected the result was a clutch of cannon balls with a cake-like crumb.
Hi Jp – Sorry to hear the recipe was a miss for you. The buns do have a denser crumb than a traditional brioche.
Tasty recipe but not a brioche bun. I enjoyed and would make again as a cornbread roll. However the brioche title is deceiving.
Thanks for trying the recipe and providing feedback, Ryan! And sorry for any confusion!